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Toxic Substances Control Act (Active-Inactive) Rule

August 22, 2017 – On June 22, 2016, Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act was signed, triggering the largest change to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) since its 1976 inception. The law requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate chemical substances on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory as either “active” or “inactive” in U.S. commerce.

On August 11, 2017, the EPA published the TSCA Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Rule, as required, and to take immediate effect. This law requires the industry to report via either a retrospective electronic notification or a “forward looking” scenario. The retrospective reporting will include all chemicals manufactured, imported, or processed in the U.S. over the ten year period (ending June 21, 2016), and allows the EPA to identify those chemicals on the TSCA Inventory that are still “active” in U.S. commerce. Please note, under the TSCA ruling, if a chemical is on the TSCA Inventory, the substance is considered an “existing” chemical substance in the U.S. commerce. Any chemical that is not on the Inventory is considered a “new chemical substance.” For a complete listing of “new chemicals”, please click here.

The EPA will also establish formal procedures for electronic notification of items that are designated “inactive” if such manufacture, import, or processing is scheduled to resume so that it can be updated to “active” in the forward looking scenario.

This rule affects companies which are currently involved in the domestic manufacturing, importing, or processing (or plan to do so in the future) of a substance listed on the TSCA Inventory for non-exempt commercial purposes during the 10-year period ending on June 21, 2016. It is important to note that if a chemical is not reported during this retrospective period (which ends on February 7, 2018), it will be designated as “inactive”.

The full text of the rule, as well as additional information can be found here.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your local BDP Regulatory Compliance representative.